My mind automatically wants to know who she was, and how she came to possess the unique collectible.

Discovering much about the wife of George Edward Martin,
however, is not easy. Thankfully, I’ve already been provided with Emma Martin’s
maiden name—Morris—but not much else to help explain how she came to own such
an unusual clock.

Apparently, Horace’s father, George Martin—often going by
the nickname Eddie, according to some census records—married Emma B. Morris on
October 25, 1882. They were most likely married in Cumberland
in New Kent
County, Virginia. Best I can tell at this point,
George was son of Thomas S. and Harriet K. Martin. Emma, on the other hand, was
a mystery.

I was able to find a young woman matching Emma’s likely age—she
was born in October, 1863, according to some census records—listed as a niece
in the household of elderly Benjamin and Elizabeth Morris in the 1880 census. The couple lived in Cumberland. Included in
their household, along with their sixteen year old niece “Emma B.” was another
niece, eighteen year old “Mary S.” and a nephew, eleven year old “Walter C.”

Of course, each of those children living with their Uncle
Ben and Aunt Lizzie could have been cousins. Just in case Mary, Emma and Walter
were actually siblings, I went hunting in the 1870 census for a matching set.

While the 1870 census does not provide any listing of
familial relationships, it was encouraging to find—also in Cumberland—a household that, along with an older Thomas and John, included a Mary,
an Emma, and a Walter. Each was correspondingly ten years younger.

An interesting side note was that the woman listed as head
of household happened to have the given name Indiana. If you, as I had, wondered about
Mabel’s husband Horace having a sister named Indiana,
perhaps you can now join me in presuming that the younger Indiana was named after the woman heading
the household where Emma lived in 1870.

It is possible that Indiana
was not Emma’s mother. After all, the next name listed in the household—showing
on the page previous to the listing that includes Emma—was for twenty one year
old Florence Morris, who obviously could not call the thirty five year old Indiana her mother.

For what it’s worth, I thought I’d try my luck for one more
decade, even though by now, it would predate Emma’s arrival in the household—if,
indeed, Indiana’s
household was the right place for Emma.

In a household in the 1860 census—still in New
Kent County,
Virginia—headed
by Thomas S. “Morriss” and, I presume, his wife “Indianna,” are listed children
“Lusie,” Ellen, “Th. W.,” and baby John. No Emma yet—she was born in late 1863.

There was one more person in that household you might be interested
in. While there is no indication of relationship in this earlier census, there
was a seventy four year old woman living in that Morris household. Her name?
Ann Lightfoot.

Could it be that Horace Lightfoot Martin gained his middle
name from his mother’s maternal grandmother? And could this Ann, born
approximately 1786—still in Virginia—have been the one to pass along that
Dresden china clock that ultimately found its home at the New Jersey address of
the great-grandson who bore her surname?

Though it still doesn’t explain how anyone in the extended
Martin-Morris family came to own a German antique of that nature, at least it
connects a few dots and gives us more of the big picture of some related
surnames.

Photograph, above right: Meissen porcelain clock from the nineteenth century. Although this clock is notthe same as the clock owned by my aunt—hers was wider and not as tall, and was without the figurines featured in this design—it serves as an example. Original photo (including examples of candelabra as well) courtesy of Wikipedia under a Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License from user IvoryMammoth.

6 comments:

Thanks for sharing that link, Iggy! My, what a wide variety of designs. The second photo seems most similar to Mabel's clock by shape only...less flowers on hers, more filigree. And, of course being a newspaper photograph, I have no idea what colors might have been used in the decorations. But this certainly gives the idea.

I was pretty pleased to find it, if I do say so, myself! Of course, if this were my line, I'd go back and double check all the documentation. This was just a thumbnail sketch to see what I could find. So glad you're here to share all the inside Virginia connotations, Wendy! I would never have known.

About Me

It is my contention that, after a lifetime, one of the greatest needs people have is to be remembered. They want to know: have I made a difference?
I write because I can't keep for myself the gifts others have entrusted to me. Through what I've already been given--though not forgetting those to whom I must pass this along--from family I receive my heritage; through family I leave a legacy. With family I weave a tapestry. These are my strands.